After the Glitter Fades
by LEJ418
Summary: Lilly Kane's death is thick with lies and deceit, but the dedication of her friends to finding out who the murderer is just might turn Hartford's upper class inside out. VMGG crossover Lit. LoVe and Javajunkie.
1. Chapter 1: Rory

**Disclaimer: Neither _Veronica Mars _or _Gilmore Girls _belongs to me, I am merley playing with the characters when I should be doing my homework. **

_**Prologue **_

_Star shaped lanterns, the stench of alcohol expensive perfume. People everywhere laughing, dancing, rubbing against each other. My vision starts to blur and the people begin to spin as if they are twisting in some strange type of waltz. Stumbling, I find a lawn chair and collapse into it as the rest of the world continues to spin around me. There is nothing I can do to stop it. My eyes close and the glow of the star shaped lanterns are the last thing I remember. _

_**Part One: Rory **_

"Damn!"

Kyle yells as Shelly's quarter sinks into his cup and she points at him to drink again. He's already both wasted and stoned, a process I've been watching for the last hour since my boyfriend; who for the record begged me to come, disappeared minutes after getting here.

People all around me are dancing and drinking without a care in the world, it must be nice to have so much money that you can just party like this whenever, as this particular Hartford set consisting of the richest in Connecticut do. I suppose I should get used to it, these are going to be my future class mates because as of the beginning of the year I'm going to Chilton Academy with all these rich kids, not because I'm rich, not by a long shot. My grandparents are paying for it, they're really the reason I managed to get in, I'm smart and all but I think it was the Gilmore name that finally sealed it.

I glance at my watch noting that it's well passed eleven, I'm supposed to be home in thirty minutes and there is no sign of Dean anywhere. Sighing I get up and start looking for him, maybe he and his friends started talking about basketball and lost track of time. I squeeze by Dick Casablancas who is making out with his girlfriend in the doorway and make it into the house.

There's a pool game going on, more drinking, and some bikers in the corner playing poker. I'm not sure how Weevil and his gang managed to crash this party but no one seems to be kicking them out yet, likely because they're too drunk to notice.

I make my way past the extremely long bathroom line and into the foyer still finding no sign of Dean, I glance up the stairs, which are dark, but there's people coming up and down them so it's worth a shot. Upstairs is clearly where the bongs are located because as I reach the top step that's about all I can smell.

"Rory!" Lindsay Lister, a girl I know from school is sitting on top of one of the end tables, one that is probably going to give out under her weight (however slight that is), any moment, taking with it her and all the glass knickknacks she must have shoved aside.

"Lindsay? Have you seen Dean?" I ask.

She puffs out a wisp of smoke and nods. "Yeah, he left like and hour ago, with like Todd and Cody? Was it Cody?" She giggles. "I don't even remember." She seems to find this hilariously funny because she begins to laugh hysterically. "He definitely left though, they had some sort of like…thing…I think they like went for pizza." She takes another puff off the bong and holds it out to me; "You want one?"

I shake my head. "Thanks Lindsay, I've gotta go."

"You didn't like come with Dean did you? Cause that would like totally like suck…majorly."

I give her a weak smile and head back downstairs. Great, so my boyfriend has ditched me, how nice of him to drag me to a party that I had no interest in going to and leave me here, that's just so freaking considerate of him.

I'm so livid as I storm into the foyer, trying to think of how the hell I'm going to get home, I walk straight into someone. No just a bump either, I walk into them so hard that I can feel my teeth clank together and a slight pain in my elbow where I think I might have been hit.

"Oomph, sorry." I say looking to see who I've hit. There's a girl on the ground in front of me that I must have completely knocked down. "I'm so sorry let me help you." I hold out a hand but she doesn't seem to be moving. "Shit," I mutter under my breath, she's probably drunk and me knocking into her put her completely off balance. I kneel down closer to her and realize who she is. Veronica Mars. We used to be friends. When we were younger, she lived in Star's Hollow until we were eight and her Dad got promoted to police chief, I see her occasionally at my grandparents functions but we're not really much of friends anymore.

"Veronica?" I ask. She doesn't respond. It's then I start to notice things, her dress is ripped and stained with what is either lipstick or blood and her mascara has run down her face. "Veronica?" I ask again, more urgently this time and shake her a little bit. Her eyes open but they're glazed and distant. "Veronica? It's me Rory Gilmore." She nods slightly and mumbles something. "Veronica!"

"I think I've been raped." She says exhaustedly. Her eyes are still a bit glazed but she seems to be recovering power of her limbs.

"What!"

"I had one drink and the last thing I remember is collapsing on a pool chair. It hurts Rory!" She buries her head in her hands.

I'm entirely unsure of what to do, "Collapsing on a pool chair, is that the last thing you remember Veronica?"

"Other than waking up in the guest room missing my underwear, and coming out here and running into you, yes it is."

I look around trying to find someone who I think can help us, but there's nothing, not a single friendly face, not one person I know.

"I'm going to see if I can find some help, can you wait here?"

She nods and I head towards the back part of the house, I've seriously missed my curfew but at this point it hardly matters anymore, Mom's probably at the inn anyway. The rec room is as I left it, there's a bunch of what we call the '09ers, the rich Hartford kids, playing pool, a couple of people by the bar and the bikers still at their poker game, they've added one to their numbers though. A smirking one with gelled hair and a book sticking out of his back pocket.

I wouldn't exactly say that Jess Mariano is a biker, a bad boy, yes, and he does hang out with the bikers, but he hasn't got a motorcycle and that therefore does not make him the guy my mother warned me about. He is also going to very soon be my step cousin. Technically anyway. My Mom is going to marry his Uncle Luke, who has always been like a father to me (mine stopped visiting when I was about twelve), and that means they're both moving in with us.

Jess throws down his hand and takes the pot, smirking at Weevil who is looking slightly scorned. As uncomfortable as Weevil makes me sometimes, I march up to the table and tap Jess on the shoulder, to say the least he looks a little surprised to see me here.

"Rory? What the hell?"

"Ahhh Mary, just the girl we were looking for." Weevil looks slightly less morose. "Tell your big bro here to stop taking my money."

"He's not my-"

"Brother." Jess finishes for me. We both really hate it when people call us that, and Weevil knows that apparently because he smirks.

"So what brings the virgin Mary to our little party? Hmm?" I try and fix him with my most withering stare but he just laughs.

I turn to Jess; "I need a ride." The rest of the bikers start to laugh. Jess isn't going to let me forget this one anytime soon.

"Are you drunk?"

I shake my head.

"Where's bag boy?"

"He left without me, and I ran into Veronica Mars in the hall, and she says she's been raped."

"Raped? Veronica?" Weevil snorts. "Not with that reputation."

"Do you mind?" Jess turns to Weevil who just shrugs, and starts dealing out another hand. "You in Mariano?"

I look at him with pleading eyes and he gives. "Fine. Weevil I gotta go. Felix, you better pay me back by next week." Felix nods and we leave.

"You owe me." He says as we make our way to the foyer, through the tough guy exterior I can tell he cares though, at least a little bit.

"You were winning anyway, it was better you quit while you were ahead."

"Yeah, better for Weevil."

We reach Veronica; she is sitting exactly where I left her.

"We're going to get you to the police station okay?" I tell her. "This is my friend Jess, he's going to help, okay." She nods and I help her up, the three of us making our way out the door and down the street to Jess's car.

**A/N: Please tell me what you think, I know this is _really_ out there.**


	2. Chapter 2: Veronica

_**Chapter Two: Veronica**_

"Is there anyone in particular you'd like me to arrest or should I just round up the sons of the most important families in town?" Chief Lamb asks sarcastically, I look at him in disbelief. He's supposed to be the chief of police, he's supposed to fucking help me. He leans back in his chair and looks at me like I'm some kind of poisonous flea.

"I've got not a shred of evidence to work with here but that really doesn't matter to your family, now does it?"

At that Jess slams his fist on to the table. "You're the fucking chief of police and if you actually fucking looked you might find some evidence!"

Lamb just looks at him amused. "Would you like me to have you arrested? I'm sure there's some kind of vandalism or theft we can put your name on. Would you like that Jess?"

Jess backs off but he gives him a long glare. Rory's been sitting next to me, quietly, with her hands in her lap, the perfect model of what her grandmother Emily expects her to be in public, all through my explanation, but finally her soft voice chimes in.

"Isn't there something you could do? I mean at the very least aren't you required by law to investigate?"

Lamb just looks down on her condescendingly. "We would if she actually accused someone but from what's she's said it could be anyone and I don't have the time, the resources, or the man power to go around chasing down every guy in Hartford who might have been at that party. Now, I suggest you all drop this now, before you embarrass yourselves anymore. You especially Rory, considering your family and all that."

He goes to the door and opens it motioning us out. I know it's fruitless to keep fighting him so I walk out, Jess and Rory follow me as downcast as I am.

"You can stay at my house if you want." Rory tells me as we walk out to Jess's car. "I called my Mom earlier and she's still at the Inn working, there's some kind of party she's taking care of or something."

I nod slowly, "Okay, thank you." I'm so unsure of what to do, I'm angry and hurt and I feel so dirty and used and everything seems so confused. Dad's in New York all this week, hunting down some bail jumper, and Mom...she left not a month after Lilly died. She and Dad had already been fighting a lot but I think him getting fired...it just put her over the edge. I haven't heard from her all summer.

It starts to rain, big heavy drops as Jess turns off the highway and on to the exit for Star's Hollow. He's a good guy, Jess is, helping me this way, I think it's more for Rory than anything but still, it's...nice I guess. Other than my father there isn't a long list of people who have been at all kind to me since Lilly died and I sided with my Dad when he went after Jake Kane.

"Veronica?" I snap out of the trance I seem to have gone into.

"Huh?"

"We're here." I notice that we're in the driveway and Jess is already unlocking the front door to the house, I open the door and climb out of the backseat.

"Sorry."

I follow Jess and Rory out of the rain, which is starting to come down harder, and into the house. Rory bangs the front door shut behind me and flicks on a light, illuminating their living room, mostly unchanged from the way I remember it years ago. There's a worn couch, a TV, and magazines, books, and CD's stacked haphazardly everywhere.

"Do you want a shower or anything?" Rory asks. "Or do you just want to sleep, you can have my bed, or are you hungry, I think we might have something edible."

Jess makes a gesture behind her back making it clear they don't, at least not by the standards of a normal persons stomach, I hold back a snort. In the last eight years, little has changed in the Gilmore house.

"A shower would be great, if it's not too much trouble."

Rory laughs and leads me into her bathroom, "Of course not." She turns on the water for me, "It's tricky," she says fiddling with the tap, and grabs me some towels from the closet before she leaves, leaving me to myself, a thought that scares me more than anything.

I strip off my white dress, that I loved when I put it on hours ago, and step into the hot water. It's extremely warm, scalding almost, but even the hot water and huge amount of soap I use won't let me forget what's happened to me.


	3. Chapter 3: Jess

_**Chapter Three: Jess **_

Rory's quiet as I help her make up a bed for her on the couch with some blankets she's grabbed from Lorelai's room. I don't really know what to say to her about Veronica...about anything. I don't want her to think I'm mad about having to leave the party or anything and it kind of sucked anyway. What I can't believe is that she was there in the first place, '09er parties are so not her thing even with Bag Boy who apparently left her there.

When I get a hold of that little...Okay so I know I hate her boyfriend but can you blame me, he's this tall dull guy who always has this vacant expression on his face and spends most of his time running up and down a basketball court dribbling a freaking ball. Plus he has no respect for her, when she talks to him about books or school or whatever he just nods and bobs and looks at her like she's some kind of picture, probably one from _Playboy_ or something. It makes me sick but there's nothing I can do about it. The sad part is that her mother adores him, I know that she probably just _wishes_ that he were the one she gets saddled with when she marries Luke and not me, all because he changes the freaking water bottle.

"I guess I should get going." I say to Rory as she smoothes the last of the blankets. She has tiny hands, perfect, and white against the blue of the sheet.

She nods. "Thanks for all your help with everything Jess, I'm sorry I had to drag you away from the party."

I shrug and head towards the door. "It's nothing, I'll see you at breakfast okay?"

She nods again and opens the door for me as I dash through the pouring rain and out to my car. It smells like rain and leather mixed with the stench of the fast food wrappers I've left in the back seat. I stick my key in the ignition just as small chunks of ice begin to rain down, making pinging sounds on the roof. I turn the key but the car only makes a slight grunting noise, like some kind of animal, and dies.

"Shit!" I mutter turning the key again, this time it barely even makes a noise. Groaning, I get out of the car and run back up onto the porch, hoping Rory and Veronica haven't gone to bed yet. I'm in luck and Rory answers the door just moments after I start to bang.

"My car won't start." I explain. Rory leans past me, noting the size of the hail and steps aside for me.

"Couch is yours, I'll take Mom's room, she's probably stuck at the inn." She grabs a hand towel from the bathroom and hands it to me. Gratefully, I dry my dripping head and shoulders with it.

"Thanks."

"Try not to wake Veronica up, she just went to bed."

"No problem."

I take off my wet shoes and coat and head towards the couch, my jeans are a little damp but it's late, I'm tired and I really don't feel like stripping down to my boxers in front of Rory.

"Good night then." She says.

I nod and she heads up the stairs.

Not ten minutes after I click off the lamp, just when I'm starting to fall asleep, the banging on the door starts. Grudgingly, I figure it's Luke, wanting to check on Rory thinking she's here alone, and get up to answer it. To my surprise, it is in fact Dean Forrester, more fondly known as Bag Boy.

He looks just as dumbfounded as I do, only much stupider.

"Can I help you?" I ask him. "Because it's after all, one in the morning, and the girlfriend that you ditched at some party that she never should have been at in the first place is in bed, and if I were you I really wouldn't want to wake her up."

Dean glares at me. "What the hell are you doing here? And how do you know that Rory's in bed? Were you in it with her? That's _my_ girlfriend!"

"'Cause you treat her so great?"

"Hey!"

"Oh are those flowers, how incredibly kind, you do know she hates roses don't you?" I say sarcastically, and she does hate roses, I happen to know that. "And aren't you aware it's one in the fucking morning? Man you're lucky Lorelai's not here."

"Lorelai's not here?"  
"If Lorelai were here she'd have already ripped your fucking head off. You left her. Alone. At a party with freaking '09ers and bikers and who knows what else!"

"Since when is that any of your business?"

"Both of you cut it out, you're going to wake up Veronica!" Rory hisses from the stairs. "Dean, I don't know what the hell possessed you to leave me at the party, or come here at one in the morning but if you wake Veronica up I swear to God I'm gonna..."

"Veronica? Who the hell is Veronica?"

"I am." I look over and see Veronica standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "What's going on?"

Rory looks absolutely livid at Dean. "It's nothing, the guys are just being stupid, you should go back to bed, they're going to shut up now."

Veronica nods, seeming to sense that this is something she shouldn't get into and goes back into Rory's bedroom, I'd bet money on the fact that she's listening in though.

"I want to know what the hell is going on!" Dean yells.

"Thanks Dean. Thanks a lot!" Rory hisses at him, rather violently. "And stop yelling."

"Look Rory, I know I screwed up but I come here and find you with-with _him_!"

"Dean, you left me, stuck in Hartford without a ride, I got seriously lucky that Jess showed up to play poker with Weevil or I'd probably still be there. Look, you have no right to be passing judgment on Jess right now, you're the one who's in deep shit with me, remember? You know what- screw it, I'm so sick of this, all of it! The jealousy, the having to justify myself to every time I see Jess. I'm done with it!" She takes off her bracelet and hands it to him. "Thank you it was fun for awhile, I'm tired and I'm going to bed." She shoves a dumbfounded Dean back onto the porch, shuts the door, and locks it as I stare at her wondering what alternate person has taken over Rory's body. As well as I know Rory, I never thought she had that in her.

"Rory...?" I ask cautiously.

"Goodnight Jess." She says softly and marches up the stairs. As I go back to the couch and lay down I can hear her soft crying carry down the stairs but there's little comfort I can give her, so I let her cry in peace. I doubt I could make it better, it's partially my fault anyway.


	4. Chapter 4: Lorelai

**Chapter Four: Lorelai **

It's nearly six in the morning before I can extract myself from my enthusiastic best friend Sookie and begin to head home. We have a huge wedding coming up, other than mine that is and last night I was there so late I figured I might as well stay at the Inn rather than try and drive home in the hail. As I reach my car my phone begins to ring, the _Star Wars _theme, which I picked for my fiancé Luke, he hates it by the way, he's a former Trekkie, but I couldn't get that ring tone.

"Hi." I say answering.

"Have you seen my nephew?"

"Now there's a mood killer if there ever was one."

"Lorelai..." He sighs in that exasperated tone which I know means that inside he's secretly laughing, most of the time anyhow.

"No Luke I haven't seen him, did he not come home or something."

"That's about right-Kirk-what the hell are you doing!" I can hear him moving around the diner in the background yelling at people. "You're not allowed back there, I don't care if you need sugar -get out of there-Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna call you back, if you for some reason see that punk send him over would you?"

"Unless he's making eyes at my daughter again in which case I might just impale him, preferably with one of your spatulas 'cause I think that would hurt the most."

"Impale him?"

"When else am I going to get to use a great word like impale?"

"You've been reading Rory's history books again haven't you?"

I smirk. "Guilty."

I can tell he's probably smiling by now, I have that effect, "I love you." He says, "I'll see you later okay."

"I love you too bye."

I flip my phone shut just as I pull into the driveway. It's way too early for Rory to be up, especially on a Saturday morning after she's been out with Dean. I unlock the door as quietly as I can and tiptoe into the house. I'm about to climb the stairs when I notice that there is someone on my couch. Someone with tuffs of dark hair sticking up all over the place who seems to have left a book open on the coffee table. I peek at it, Salinger, of course. Well that explains where Jess is though, why the hell he's laying on my couch is a mystery to me. At least he's on the couch and not somewhere else. I decide that I should check in on Rory and maybe ask her what's going on but as I open the door and peek into her room I find that the person in her bed is in fact not Rory, it's some blonde girl. Welcome to the twilight zone, if I do not locate my daughter somewhere in this house very soon and get a very through explanation, someone is going down.

"Mom?" I hear someone call.

_Oh thank god. _

"Rory? Is that you? You haven't been kidnapped by body snatchers that have turned you into a blonde?" I ask as I come out of her room.

"All here and still brunette."

"Rory, why is Jess on our couch and who is the strange girl in your bed?"

She sighs for a moment. "Let's go upstairs."

She proceeds to tell me a very long winded story about Dean leaving her at some party, (someone else is going to get impaled very soon) and how she ran into Veronica and Jess and how Veronica was raped and Jess took them here but his car wouldn't start so he stayed the night on the couch.

"Um...wow." I say as she finishes. "So I take it you had quite an evening."

She bites her lip for a minute." I um...haven't told you everything."

Oh god she finally figured out what I've been afraid of for months. That she's got a crush on Jess as big as the one he's got on her and she finally did something about it. Oh please, please let it be something else, let it be that my mother called. Huh, I never thought I'd say that.

"Dean...he um...came by...around one...and..."  
"And...?"

"And I was tired and mad and he and Jess were yelling at each other and I just...I had it. I broke up with him."

"You did?"

"He made me so angry and he was being so stupid and...I don't regret it. It was time, and I'm sick of him getting jealous every time I spend time with Jess. I mean, I'm going to live with him soon and if Dean can't live with that well..."

Well, it's not as bad as I thought but it's close, if Dean's no longer in the picture than Jess could be…and he's trouble. He may be my fiancés nephew but he's got some issues, issues I don't want Rory wrapped up in.

"You broke up with him?"

"Yep."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Rory, I'm not justifying how he treated you, it was low of him to just leave you there, but maybe you should hear him out, he could have a really good reason."

"Yeah, he forgot about me."

"Rory…"

"I can't believe you're justifying this, I mean you've always made it clear that I shouldn't be with someone who I feel like doesn't treat me right and he didn't treat me right. God, you've been preaching that for as long as I can remember." She looks so much like my mother when she's angry it really scares me.

"Rory…I just…"

"Forget it." I watch as she walks out of my room and slams the door behind her apparently forgetting that there is a house full of people asleep and no where she can go without waking them all up. I want her to be happy I really do and if Dean's not going to do that then fine. If it weren't for Jess being around I wouldn't worry so much but there's something about that kid I just don't trust, I just can't.

I suppose I should call Luke and tell him he's here so he can stop freaking out. Luke's not much of a worrywart as far as Jess's well being is concerned but he does worry about him getting into some kind of trouble and he worries about Rory constantly, she's like a daughter to him and always has been. His protectiveness towards both of us is really one of his most endearing traits.

I bang my foot against the edge of the bed as I dial the number to the diner, it's almost through ringing before Luke picks up.

"Hello?" He says gruffly.

"Hi it's me," I say, "I've located your nephew."

"Where the hell is he?"

"He's currently asleep on my couch."

"Lorelai, why the hell is Jess on your couch?"

"It's a very long story but basically he took Rory home from a party last night and his car wouldn't start so he just stayed on the couch. You know, if you'd just clean out the garage we could get that all fixed up and he'd have somewhere to sleep that's farther away from my daughter."

"It's your garage Lorelai."

"You said that if I did all the wedding planning that you'd do the garage so we could fix it up for Jess to sleep in and the garage is still full of crap."

"Yes but when we made that deal you neglected to inform me the garage was full of crap so I consider all contracts associated with that garage null and void."

"No fair!"  
"You cheated."  
"I did not!"

"You did too!"

"Is Patty hanging around there, because if you don't stop the whole town is going to think I'm having some illicit affair."

"And you care because…"

"Well actually it might be entertaining."

"Have I told you recently that you're exhausting?"

"Drink some coffee, it'll help you keep up."

"I love you, I'll see you for breakfast."

"You'll have coffee?"

"The poisonous stuff that you're slowly killing yourself with, yes I will have that but whether or not I serve it too you is a different story."

"What if I do something dirty?"

"I'll see you in an hour."

"I love you."

"I love you too, would you tell Jess to get his ass down here by the way?"  
"Bye Luke."

"Goodbye crazy lady."

I hang up the phone sighing, I'm still upset about fighting with Rory but talking to Luke always makes me feel better, unless he's withholding coffee that is.


	5. Chapter 5: Veronica

_**Chapter Five: Veronica **_

I wake up to the sound of a door slamming above my head. I blink for a few moments at the blinding sun coming through the shades, taking in where the heck I am. Rory's room looks strangely different in the light of day, her books are all stacked as neatly as they were last night, her Harvard paraphernalia is still tacked on the wall opposite me but the little green light on her computer monitor is harder to see and I can make out some of the faded spots on the wall paper and the dirty clothes piled in the hamper, things I hadn't noticed last night.

I haven't forgotten what has happened to me, not that I can remember anything that I didn't remember last night. I still don't know who handed me that drugged drink or what happened afterwards but one thing is for sure, I'm going to find out. I've heard of girls who were raped going into shock or tears but I don't feel any of that, I just want revenge. I want whoever did this to me to feel the pain I felt last night when I woke up in a strange room missing my underwear and found myself stumbling out of it and into a party full of people. Someone had to have seen something last night and I intend to figure out who did.

My dad's turned private eye since he got fired as police chief and I've picked quite a few things up. I can't tell him about this though, he'll never let me out of the house again, he'll make everything worse than it already is by trying to take down Lamb or something. The time will come when Lamb will go down, but I don't want Dad to have to be the one to pay that price, he's already suffered enough. We all have.

I hear voices coming from the stairs, it sounds like Jess, I can't quite make out what he's saying but I figure I might as well get up. I neatly attempt to make Rory's bed and open the door a crack. There's no one in the kitchen but I can hear Rory and Jess's voices coming from the living room, I cough loudly to make sure I'm not walking in on something important and tread towards them.

Jess is still stretched out on the couch, propped up on his elbows while Rory sits perched on the edge of the chair next to him. They look so…natural together…like that. Rory's still in her pajamas and Jess's hair is tousled all over from sleep. I know they're not a couple…yet…but I have a gut feeling it's not going to take them to long to become one. Especially with the way they look at each other. It's the way that Duncan used to look at me, the way Logan used to look at Lilly when he thought no one was looking.

Rory smiles as she sees me enter and jumps off the edge of the chair. "Hey!"

"Hi." I say, noticing the dancing cakes on her pajamas.

"How are you feeling?" She asks, but she quickly begins to think that it was the wrong thing to say because a guilty look crosses her face. "Oh gosh- I'm sorry- that's an awful thing to ask- why do I never think?"

"It's fine. I'm fine."

Jess looks at me oddly. "You're fine?"

I nod. "I should get home though. I hate to ask this but could I borrow some money for a bus fare, I'll pay you back I promise."

Rory looks horrified. "You can't leave yet! You have to eat, and you can't go out looking like that." She gestures towards the snowman pajamas of hers I'm wearing. "We'll take you to the diner for breakfast, and you can borrow some clothes, and I'll drive you home later."

"I really don't want to impose on you any longer."

"Impose? You're not imposing. Here, let me get you some clothes." She takes my arm and leads me back to her room where she starts going through her closet trying to find something I can wear. I'm several sizes smaller than her, not because she's fat or anything but she's several inches taller than me and her hips are bigger. "Here!" She exclaims, finally grabbing a pair of jeans from the back of her closet. "And let me find you a top and stuff." She goes through her drawers and pulls out everything I need. "Are these good?" I nod.

"Thanks so much Rory."

"It's not a problem." She grabs some clothes for herself and shuts the door behind her. I put on the clothes, they're a little bit big on me, and check my reflection in the mirror. The girl I see is different than the one I saw last night, getting ready for the party. She looks older, there's dark circles under her eyes and a weird bruise on her neck. She looks like me, but I don't recognize her.

"Veronica?" Rory knocks on the door. "If you're ready, we were going to go to breakfast." I tear myself away from the reflection and head towards the door.

"I'm ready." I say opening it and stepping through.

**A/N: I did some reasearch and since I could find _nothing _to suggest that Connecticut _has_ a sheriffs department, I decided Keith should have been chief of police instead. Thanks to everyone who reviewed . The plot will pick up a little in coming chapters.**


	6. Chapter 6: Luke

_**Chapter Six: Luke**_

Disclaimer: Still not mine, never was, never will be; let's more on shall we...

Jess comes meandering into the diner around six thirty like nothing has happened, like it's an everyday occurrence for him to mysteriously disappear all night. As soon as I see him going up the stairs I yell at Caesar that I'm taking a break and follow him up. By the time I get up there the little punk is already stretched across his bed with his nose in a book. I've never met a stranger kid, except maybe Rory.

"Would you please explain to me where the hell you were?" I yell. I'll admit it, at least to myself, that I was a little worried, Star's Hollow is all bunny rabbits and unicorns but I knew he was in Hartford and that certainly isn't. The Lilly Kane murder proves that, poor thing was killed in her own backyard in broad daylight.

"Lorelai's couch." He says boredly flipping a page.

"And what the hell where you doing on Lorelai's couch?" She's already explained this to me but I want to hear it from him, make sure that Lorelai got the real story and not some fabrication.

"Sleeping, what else would I be doing? Unless you think I'm offing your fiancée?"

"Don't be such a smart ass."

"I was at a party alright, and I ran into Rory and apparently Bag Boy dumped her there without a ride home, so I took her home and then my car broke down. Sheesh." He rolls his eyes.

"And it didn't occur to you to call me and tell me that?"

"Oh, Uncle Luke, I didn't realize you cared so much." He says sarcastically. I grab his book and whack him over the head with it, not hard, just enough to show my frustration. It wouldn't do anything anyways, I could probably knock him out and it still wouldn't get through that thick skull of his.

"Next time call, okay." I say and leave it at that. I'm not much of parent, but hell I'm better than his jackass of a father who ran out on my sister the day she had Jess. Not that Liz is Ms. Reliable anyways, after all she did send him here when he got to be too much. He's doing better, I think as I go back downstairs and start another pot of coffee. I really think it's Rory that's making him better but I'm afraid to broach the situation with Lorelai, she's highly against them being together and I can't say that I blame her. Jess has plenty of issues and there's also the fact that they're going to be step cousins soon, which is all together a bit creepy.

I'm taking the order of some loud lady wearing an ugly sweater with kittens on it when Lorelai walks in with Rory and some other girl who looks vaguely familiar. I can tell as soon as they enter that something's off between Rory and Lorelai, you can usually tell when they have a fight because they're typically so close. I don't usually want to know what they're fighting about though. Any conversation involving a menstrual cycle is too much for me.

"Coffee!" Lorelai begs throwing herself into a seat on the counter and leaning over to kiss me. Rory and the other girl follow. I know better than to mess with Lorelai when she's like this, last time she literally laid her head on the counter and refused to pick it up until I gave her coffee. I grab three cups and begin to pour. "Would you like some too? I ask the blonde girl who has taken a seat next to Rory. She looks so familiar, but I just can't place where I've seen her before.

"Yes Luke." She says, giving me a faint smile. Okay so I definitely know her.

"Luke, do you remember Veronica Mars?" Rory asks. _Veronica. _Veronica Mars. Of course. It's been forever since she lived here, she and her family moved to Hartford when Keith got promoted to police chief. He was fired though, not long after the Lilly Kane murderer. He went after the girls father, he was so sure Jake Kane did it, but the rich Hartford blue bloods didn't like that and had him removed. I personally think he might have been on to something, those rich society people…they'll do anything to protect a reputation and even if it wasn't Jake Kane, it still could have been someone close to the girl wanting to keep something secret. They still haven't caught the person who did it.

I smile at Veronica, I always liked her when she was in here, she and Lorelai together were always good for a few laughs. "Of course. How are you Veronica?"

"I'm alright."

"That's good, so what would you guys like to eat?"

"Pancakes with a side of a side of pancakes please." Lorelai begs. "And keep the coffee coming."

A/N: I have one word for you; TOO MUCH REALITY IN MY LIFE! Okay that was more than one, but the point is that this is the first chance I've gotten to write. More to come, and don't give up on those GG fics I was writing, those are coming too. Thanks for reviewing!


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